A Sure Sign of Spring in Central Alberta

       This morning I was out just a few minutes before 7 AM and I heard a chickadee "fee beeing." It was minus 26 C(minus 13 F). Now people will all know what I'm talking about if chickadees are resident in your area. The fee bee call is one that catches your attention right away. This chickadee  was doing his call constantly which indicates he's pretty serious about spring and mates.

  

My snowy bird feeded this morning.

       The male chickadee selects a territory which has suitable nesting habitat and a good food supply. Then he sings his little heart out to all the females in the area to come and have a look at him and the fine territory he has chosen. The interesting thing about chickadees is that they sometimes really rush the season and give a few calls in January. These are usually just one or two calls. So when I heard the call this morning it was a very good indication of serious mating activity which really says that spring is here.

      A few years ago I happened to be surrounded by three male chickadees doing their call. One female was in the area. These little guys really called with all the vigor they had. The female went and took a look at all three callers and then flew out of the territory. She could probably hear anther male calling which my ears were not able to detect. The three males she visited all called after her as if to say come back and take another look at me.

     So some people see robins as the perfect indicator of spring. Others see first green plant shoots of some kind as their sign of spring. Other people have a favorite blossom which to them indicates that spring is here. For me the little chickadee is all I need to hear for a sure sign of spring. 

That Annual General Physical Medical Examination!

       Today I had the good fortune to have my annual general physical medical examination!

       Now I'm not a big fan of the annual general. I get it for two reasons. 1) It keeps the decibel level down a bit because Home Farm Girl is adamant that the annual mandatory. 2) Way back in the reptilian part of my brain is something that tells me the annual general might be important.

      Now I started with the disliked annual long ago and it's been done at least 25 years. I'm not sure that it has been of any value. So far they haven't found anything! Well maybe that's a good thing and it shows that I am very fortunate to have good health. Or maybe I am just lacking period. Now if they did find something , would I blame the medical for the problem.

     A few days ago a friend was taking two five gallon water jugs into her house. And a funny thing happened! Something went twinge in her back! She was telling a friend that she was getting an Xray on her back. Her friend's reply was don't get an Xray on your back! Get one on your head! A second friend was there and he said don't waste the time for a head Xray because there's nothing there! I feel like this sometime.

    Now I've had my Doc for about 35 years. He's been a good Doc and still is. But he's my age and I know that there are little pieces of the brain that aren't quite as sharp. I started to reflect on his performance and the state of our health care. Home Farm Girl has developed a nasty foot problem which really interferes with her walking. A toe is badly out of joint. One surgeon has 500 on his waiting list and will not take anybody. For another guy there's a two year time to get an appointment.

     When I think back to when my Doc was young things got done right on the spot. The Docs ruled the hospital. What they said got done. If you were referred it, was almost immediate. Docs were allowed to run things and they got things done. They were proud of their performance. Now the bean counters run the hospital and I'm sure docs feel unwelcome in the place. My Doc spends very little time at the hospital. He stays in his office shuffling patients in and out. Not a very satisfying practice for him as he is only involved in such a small part of medical care.

     So let the docs run things and we will be taken care of. 

     Oh yeah! Thanks for the 25 or so annual physical examinations and 35 years of medical care!

More White Dog Days of Winter

     So today I got really brave and went out to look at the white winter I've been complaining about. I also remembered to take the camera.

      Snow removal from our streets is "sorta." They scrape the snow of and push it to one side of the street so that we have about a lane and a half to drive on and no place to park.

     For intersections in a close they push the snow on to the boulevard.

     To navigate my backyard I've had to shovel little paths. These have been snowed in several times this winter.

Dog Days of Winter

         Now I know you'll be saying "dog days of winter!" What's he talking about? I know I'm borrowing very heavily from dog days of summer. I also know that dog days of summer refers to the hot muggy uncomfortable time when the best of summer is over. I also know that for the ancients they knew that the most prominent star at the time was the dog star and that's how we think we got the term "dog days of summer."

       I like to think that we are in a very uncomfortable part of our winter which is slowly moving toward it's end. February here has been brutal this year. We usually think that once we get to February that we will get a cold spell but it won't last long as we will get a mild spell. Not this year. We've just had one long cold spell with only one little break where it was mild enough to thaw. We've had snow cover for 110 days. We have about 50 cm (20in.) of snow on the level. We've had high winds and blowing snow. Blowing snow here in the city is pretty rare.

       So I feel that the term "dog days of winter fits pretty well. I will apologize to dog owners ahead of time if they take offense to me using the term dog in a negative sense. We are all tired of the long cold spell and really look for a break when the forecaster said , "It's going to be a cold spring!" That's too much!

      Now I know I'm ranting and raving. I even changed my mind yesterday about posting such a rant on the weather. I had read a very positive uplifting blog post and for a short time it cheered me up.

    However, I know that spring is soon to appear and our snow will start to melt and all of this will seem like a bad memory. I promise to post about beautiful spring time conditions when they get here.

You "Gotta" Listen to Vinyl Cafe

         The Vinyl Cafe is a CBC radio program hosted by author Stuart McLean. Stuart McLean believes that written stories should be read out loud to and an audience so that was the basis of starting the show. McLean also likes music and looks for up and coming new talent to perform on his show. So the show has two things that I like: a good story and good music.

        Stuart McLean has written a number of books which consist of stories that he tells. Some of them come from places he has travelled or from people he has met. He usually tells the stories in a humorous fashion.

      On Vinyl Cafe his stories are based on a family with two children and a dog. From this fictional family he can go in many different directions with the same basic characters. So the stories are called the Dave and Morley Stories. Sometimes it features the rather inept Dave and his misadventures or it could be the son Sam and his challenges in growing up. Of course, it's convenient to have neighbors the Churlingtons and the interactions with them. Dave's mother is still living so there are the visits and worries about his mother in Nova Scotia. It's convenient that when he goes back to Nova Scotia he can tell stories about his boyhood.

      Dave Played in a band when he was a young man and now he has a record shop for a business. So you see the Dave and Morley stories can go on forever.

     About one third of the shows are done before a live audience so they tour to all parts of the country. Tickets go like, well hot cakes! He also tours in the U.S. as well since his show is picked up by some American stations. Stuart tries to find local musical talent in the locations he visits . For example , when he's in Yellowknife he will find someone suitable in the area. I saw his show when he toured Red Deer and thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

    So take a listen to the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean. I'm sure you"ll like it.

Types of Blog Writing

        Since I've been shopping around blogs this last while, I have noticed that there are many types of blog writers. Since I'm looking for blogs to follow I have been looking with a somewhat critical eye. I'm looking for something to follow which is interesting and related to areas that interest me.

        Many bloggers blog about their daily lives. I'm amazed at how many of these writers are able to make their daily activities very interesting. Some just have interesting lives so that makes it easy. One blogger I follow hikes at least once a week and sky dives from time to time. Others have the knack for telling an interesting story. They provide detail and description. They are able to build up their story to some kind of climax.

       Other bloggers have an area of expertise which they tell about. Cooking, gardening and bird watching seem to be popular. I've also seen some pretty neat art blogs. A personal friend and former teacher blogs about teaching strategies. He's really good at it and new teachers could really benefit from his blog. (It's too late for me! I retired fourteen years ago but I still read his blog.)

      Many bloggers develop a special column which appears in their blog on weekly basis. One blogger only posts a picture on Sundays. I always look forward to this photo. Another blogger has a special Wednesday feature which I look forward to. Other bloggers set up contests.

     Some bloggers have a personal writing style that makes their blog posts interesting. One blogger who expressed concern about her writing ability and wished she had learned more in her English class brings authenticity to her blog by her use of country language. It works well. She has many followers and she can skip the grammar. Another blogger who constantly worried about his posts was a natural at telling a good story. His stories built up to a climax. You were drawn in to read his posts.

     Photographers have great fun taking pictures and posting them to tell a story or to show off places, flowers or birds. Many artists use a blog to display their art or to produce art. I asked an artist friend of mine what I could do to improve my blog and his instant answer was , "More pictures!" He thinks visually so he helped me develop another aspect of my blogging. I really had to work hard at this one. I finally had to take a picture and then build a post around the picture.

    So in shopping around for blogs to follow I have pleasantly learned more about blogging.

Book Review: Three Cups of Tea

       I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea by David Oliver Relin. It's a biography of Greg Mortenson and shows that you can run against the grain and do great good in the world.

      Greg Mortenson is an American who grew up in Africa. When his family came back to the States Greg had many various experiences. A life changing experience occurred when he had a spectacular failure in a climbing attempt of K-2. He bumbled into a village and was aided in his recuperation. Before he left the village he saw that they badly needed and wanted a school. This was in 1999. Greg struggled to raise money to build the school. There were many challenges but finally the school was completed.

     Greg some how or other came to trust the judgementent of the local villagers and they trusted him. Other villages in the area also wanted a school. The rest of the story is how Greg went on the build many schools and other projects that helped the Muslim people in northern Pakistan. Unfortunately for Greg he was in Pakistan when 9 /11  occurred. He was very fortunate to get back to America. By this time of his life he was committed to building as many schools as possible and there was no end of requests for schools.

      Greg strongly believed that education was what would prevent radical Muslims from influencing other Muslims being recruited to terrorism. For this stand Greg received all kinds of hate mail and death threats in America. These worried him but did not prevent him from carrying on.

      The story is a page burner as you worry about Greg's success and safety. He goes from one tight spot to another.

      I agree with Greg's idea that education is key. I spent 37 years in education so I would naturally agree as I know that education brings freedom, independence and power.

      It's ironic though that Greg should receive death threats from his own people who are well educated? Education is just one piece of the puzzle. Greg found that the American Government's failure to deliver on aid projects was one of the challenges he faced in his work.

     I great to see that one individual could go against the the general thinking of his country and make such a difference at a basic level.

      I quite often ask avid readers what they are reading. In that way I find really good books to read. Two readers  were my friends Eileen and her husband Mike. We often talked about the books we read and recommended books to each other. A week before Eileen died in May she told me that Three Cups of Tea was a book I had to read. So for Eileen, I've finally read Three Cups of Tea and as you said it was a great read.

       So I highly recommend that you read Three Cups of Tea.